Forgiven
by Tarsier1
Summary: Kurt needs to deal with a trauma from his past, and a certain Kitten gets some claws.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: **This story is not a sequel to "Of Laundry and Luck" yet I do continue with my habit of leaving out the accents. Also, this story is complete, I just need to type it into my computer. Twenty five pages hand written is a lot to type out. Also I am going to try and break away from the old Kurtty Cliches with this one, as well as add a bit off depth to the characters. If you all like it when it is finished, it is set up to carry a sequel(s).

**Forgiven.**

The room was dark. Illuminated only by the green digital glow of the bedside clock, which read 3:20am. The silence of the room broken periodically by small moans and gasps; mumblings of German, _"Halten Sie Bitter." _and _"Nein."_ imploring for something unseen to cease. The sounds and voice were coming from a writhing mass of blankets on the bed. Then suddenly the occupant of the bed sat bolt upright and screamed, "Stefan Nein!" Kurt looked around the room, the light from the clock bright as day to his night senses. He had been having these dreams off and on since coming to the mansion, and he resolved that come morning he would do something about it.

Professor Xavier sat at his desk early the next morning enjoying his coffee while simultaneously trying to block the unfiltered thoughts of his students. They did not realize that in their early morning haze they had a tendency to project every little thought. However, he had experience in tuning it out. Being arguably the worlds greatest telepath did have certain perks after all. There were students however, who hardly projected at all. In fact, some had such highly developed mental shields that he would be hard pressed to enter their minds without their permission. That was not to say that they could not hear him 'knocking', just that the doors were locked so to speak.

That was why it came as a surprise as one such student knocked on his door. The shock of it caught him off guard, almost making him spill his still steaming French vanilla roast. "Come in.", he announced.

Kurt opened the door. He did not, contrary to popular belief 'port' everywhere, just as a certain immaterial girl did not 'phase' into every room.

"God morning professor"

"A good morning to you too Kurt. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The blue German shook his head, "Pleasure has nothing to do with it, I am afraid."

"Is something the matter?" the older man asked.

Kurt took a seat across from his mentor before speaking, "Well I have been having these nightmares…"

"Would these have anything to do with your mother?" Charles leaned forward expectantly.

"No. These are about something else, something that no one here at The Institute knows about. " Kurt licked his lips before continuing, a sign that the older man recognized as signaling his hesitation, "There is something in my past that I feel I need to deal with before I continue with the team."

The professor steepled his fingers in what his students had deemed his trademark pose. "Well Kurt, would you care to tell me about it?"

If you don't mind professor, I would rather you looked in my mind. It is far too painful for me to verbalize."

Charles wheeled his chair around and stopped so that he was right in front of his student. "Very well then," ha placed his fingers to the teen's temples then said, "Kurt, If you wouldn't mind lowering your shields?"

The moment that Kurt did so, the professor instantly found himself relieving the boys most painful and terrible memory. The horror of it was so unexpected and great that he audibly gasped and pulled his hands back as if they had been physically burned. He looked at Kurt, who had tears in his eyes, "What do you need to do?"

An hour after breakfast found Kurt back in the professor's study along with Logan. Kurt was explaining his plan to them. "I would like to return to Germany for a while…"

"How long do you need?" Charles asked.

"A couple of weeks. As you know, I am a Catholic."

The Wolverine chirped in, "Nobody's perfect."

Charles shot him a disapproving glare, "Logan, time and place."

"No, it's alright professor." Kurt smiled lightly. "I have been thinking of performing the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius. Normally that would require a month, but I feel that two weeks should be sufficient."

Charles raised an eyebrow, "I never knew you were a Jesuit Kurt."

The boy smiled, "Nobody's perfect."

Logan let out a bark of laughter at that, "Glad to see you're still in there elf."

"Danke." The Elf grinned.

The professor smiled as well, the presence of Kurt's humor even in this trying time coming as a relief. "When would you like to depart?"

The boy gave it some thought before he spoke, "I should have everything ready to go in two days… But I may need some help obtaining a few supplies."

The older man in the wheel chair smiled at him, "Anything you need, just ask."

After Kurt had thanked the professor and left the room, Logan hung back as per a mental request from the professor.

"Logan, I would like you to fly Kurt home in the Black Bird."

The gruff man nodded, "And here I thought I was just in the room for decoration."

"Quite." The professor smirked, "In case you did not know Logan, St. Ignatius lived in a cave and practiced acts of penance that included starvation, self flagulation, and silence. Although the more physically harmful aspects of his method are no longer part of The Society of Jesus' practices, I would like you to secretly keep an eye on our blue friend for his own safety."

"So I am to be on stakeout?" The Canadian asked.

"Think of it more as being the boy's safety net." The physically older man drew on the furry teen's history as a trapeze artist for the analogy. "Kurt needs this time to deal with some very dark aspects of his past. I think that out of anyone you could understand that Logan." He paused to let it sink in "Only interfere if it is absolutely necessary for the boy's safety."

"Gotcha." Logan said as he threw up a mock salute while thinking to himself, _'Looks like I'm going camping…'_

Kurt's door hung open as he busied himself filling a large duffle bag that sat on his bed. His tail swished around in an apparently random fashion when it was not busy grabbing things and acting as a third hand.

His actions were brought to a halt as a knock came upon his doorframe. Turning around Kurt saw his adopted sister Rogue standing in the doorway.

"I heard you were going somewhere. Looks like it's true." The southern girl placed her hand n her hip and pretended to be angry. "Did you think you could take off without telling your older sis goodbye?"

Kurt smiled, a small amount of sadness evident on his face. He had been a little brother once before, and had thought that aspect of his life to be over until he came to the institute.

Kurt understood Rogue. After all, they were two sides of the same coin. Where as she had adopted the off putting goth persona as a means of making herself unapproachable to avoid harming anyone with her mutation; his mutation had led him to make himself overly approachable in compensation of his appearance. Two coping mechanisms for similar problems.

He motioned her into the room. When she has come in, he walked over and shut the door behind her, then took a seat on his bed. Rogue pulled out his desk chair and sat, "Kurt, what's going on?

"It is difficult for me to explain…" he began, "You know that before I came here I had been living on my own for a while. When the professor found me, I was about to be burned at the stake."

She nodded.

"But this is not about that…" he continued,

"It's about Stefan isn't it." It was a statement not a question. At his surprised look she explained, "Kurt, I've got you in my head." She tapped her forehead for emphasis, "Most of your memories, fears… Hell," she blew out a breath, "Sometimes I find myself talking to myself in German!"

"So you know what I have to do then?"

She nodded. Then standing up she walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Just be careful. And remember, we all love you here." She pulled him into a hug.

As he hugged her back he said, "Danke."

Rogue smiled, "Bitte schöne." Then in a threatening tone, "And if you tell anyone about this 'touchy feely' moment, I will have to kill you. I do have a reputation to keep."

He laughed, "Duly noted."

Then she asked something that wiped the smile right off his face, "So, what are you going to tell Kitty?"

His face fell a little, "Damn. I hadn't thought of that yet."

**There you all go. Chapter One. Please review and let me know. I am also looking for a competent beta. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Here is chapter two for you all. I really hope that you are liking this. I am still having some trouble converting my writing style to something that is accessible to all of you, as well as to And yes, the characters will be slightly out of character, but isn't the point of fanfiction to make them your own in a sense?

**Disclaimer:** Does it really need to be said?

**Forgiven. Chapter 2. **

The friendship of between Kurt Wagner and one Katherine "Kitty" Pryde was quite an interesting one to say the least. When they had first met, she had been frightened and a bit repulsed by his appearance. Over the intervening two and a half years however, they had grown extremely close. These days he was a constant source of comfort to the younger girl.

The humor of it all, in a purely Shakespearean definition of comedy was that he was almost pathetically in love with the girl, while she was herself also in love with him. The humor of the situation being that while he was too frightened to tell her for fear of losing her, she had not yet admitted to herself that she loved him. She had not done so partly because he had not told her how he felt. The whole situation being a constant source of amusement for their fellow students, as well as being the subject of a rumored betting pool. However, the two remained completely oblivious to all of this.

Kitty had heard that Kurt was going somewhere. In a house full of mutants and telepaths, the rumor mill worked overtime. Yet, she had opted to let her best friend come to her before she bought any of the tall tales that were circulating around. A favorite of the younger students (and supplied by Bobby) was that Kurt once worked for the German mob as a hit man and now he had to go complete one last job before he was a free man.

Kitty was known for her stubbornness, but she knew when to be patient. Her patience paid off as knock fell on her door and a familiar voice sounded on the other side, "Kätchzen, may I come in?"

She smiled at his formality. Most guys his age and with his mutation would simply port into her room in an attempt to catch her or her roommate in a state of undress… But Kurt was not most guys.

"Come in fuzzy." Another aspect of their unique friendship was the use of pet names. To her, Kurt was always 'Fuzzy Elf' or some variation there of. And for him, she was always 'his Kätchzen'. She had looked it up in a German dictionary shortly after he had first used it on her, and had discovered that it translated roughly to 'kitten'. In the past most guys who had called her 'kitten' had found themselves facing the brunt of her legendary temper (a temper that could give The Wolverine a run for his money). But then once again, Kurt was not like most guys.

After receiving her invitation, he entered. As much as he loved teleporting it did tax him physically, and so he often opted to use doors for their intended purpose. Stairs on the other hand were a completely different story…

She looked up from the magazine she had been reading when he entered and closed the door. Normally the institute had a policy about leaving doors open when a boy and a girl were in a room together for the sake of decency. Kurt had ignored the policy with Rogue because she was his sister, and he had ignored it now because he wished to speak to Kitty without prying ears dropping eaves.

"What's up fuzzy?"

"Well, as you may have heard, I will be going away for a while…" he began.

"Just when you think you are out they pull you back in eh?" Kitty offered. At his confused look she said, "You'll have to ask Bobby." Kurt just shrugged it off. "So where are you going, and for how long?" she asked with a look of sadness on her face.

"Germany. A couple of weeks."

She scooted over on the bed and patted the space next to her in invitation for him to sit. He did so, leaning back against her headboard. She leaned against him resting her head against his chest. She noticed that she could hear his heart beat speed up. His normally active tail decided to rest across her lap, and she pet it absently.

"Can I ask why?"

"Yes you can." He replied

"Does that mean you will tell me?" her hopefulness audible in her voice.

"I'm afraid I can't. I'm sorry…" He could feel her disappointment as her posture dropped and she quit her ministrations to his tail. "But rest assured Kätchzen, everything will be fine, and I will tell you all about it when I get back."

"Promise?" she turned her blue eyes up to meet his hopefully.

He smiled down at her, and then because he knew it would make her feel better he said in a thick German accent, "Kross mein hürtz und hope zu die."

This made her giggle. "I miss your accent. I always thought it was cute."

"You did?" his voice filled with surprise and mirth.

The younger girl nodded her head, "Mmmhhmmm." She began stroking his tail again.

"Und vas else did you alvays find cute?" He liked where this was going, and decided to lay the accent on thick to play it up…

"Well…" Kitty began, she turned her head up and brought her face close to his, "I always thought the fangs… were a bit…" she trailed off as the distance between them closed, their lips almost touching. Suddenly the door opened to reveal Logan.

The older man's voice was harsh compared to the now ruined tender moment, "Ready to go elf?" The Wolverine smiled at the look of frustration on both of his student's faces.

"Ja herr Logan. I'll go grab my bag." Kurt's voice was laced with disappointment.

"Good," the surly Canadian said, "be in the hanger in five…" He then turned to leave. His voice called back as he walked down the hallway, "And you two know the rules about closed doors!"

Kitty looked at Kurt, the tension that had been in the air moments before replaced with an air of awkwardness. Her face was flushed pink in embarrassment, "So… um."

Kurt's face was purple with his own embarrassment, "yeah…"

They both laughed nervously and got off the bed. Kitty pulled him into a tight embrace and said, "You be careful fuzzy elf. If anything happens to you, I am going to have to hurt you."

The German boy hugged her back and laughed, "What is it with the women in my life threatening to hurt me lately?"

"It's only because we care fuzzy. Only because we care." Her blue eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and laughter.

After he had left her room, Kitty hurried to implement her plan. Although she had the capability to be patient, she was like her namesake a curious creature. Grabbing a backpack she filled it with a few bottles of water, a book and a change of clothes (just in case). She then preceded to the hanger with all of the stealth and agility her training as an X-Man had taught her. Before she left her room however, she made sure to grab an old sweater of hers. It was after all, integral to her plan.

Kurt and Logan were so occupied with double and triple checking the jet's instruments that they did not notice the ghost-like girl enter the plane. She remained immaterial to mask her scent, and as gingerly as possible she placed her decoy. Then she hurried to the storage bay to hide.

Almost immediately the two male mutants noticed the scent. "Kid, I think we've got company…" The older man stated.

Kurt nodded and gave a sniff, "Kätchzen."

But upon inspection of the passenger compartment all that the duo found was an old pink sweater that Kurt identified as belonging to Kitty.

"Figures half pint would leave something behind. Wonder why I didn't notice it before?" The man was a little confused.

"We were too busy loading everything up. It's totally understandable." Kurt offered.

"If you say so elf." The Wolverine looked around, _"Still don't smell right."_ he thought to himself.

**Sorry for the short chapter. I am still transcribing this all out of my notebook. If you have ever had to do this, you can relate to how mind numbingly dull and frustrating it can be. Next chapter should be longer, and should be up by monday. read and review please. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Forgiven. Chapter 3.**

The flight to Germany was a quick one by international standards. But then, having your own supersonic jet did have advantages. Kurt instructed Logan to fly him to a secluded valley in The Black Forest region.

The German teen's eyes lit up and he seemed to heave a sigh of relief upon looking out the window, "Ahhh Die Schwarzwald! This is where I grew up Herr Logan." He looked over at his instructor, "Did you know this is where all the classic fairy tales come from?"

The older man grunted, "Figures someone like you would come from somewhere like this."

If he was offended, the teen did not let it show. Logan set the jet down in a clearing picked by Kurt, and the two began unloading Kurt's supplies. Two weeks worth of food, camping gear, religious books, one three foot tall plaster statue of the Virgin Mary, and a crucifix (the last two items had been obtained with The Professor's generous help).

After everything was unloaded, Logan gave Kurt a communicator, "Here you go kid. When you are ready to be picked up give a call. I'll be here within six hours to get ya."

"Danke, Herr Logan."

"No problem," the older man looked a bit uncomfortable when he spoke again, "Look, I know what its like to have hidden demons. Just be careful and take all the time you need."

The younger boy was taken aback, was The Wolverine showing his soft side? Rather than say anything, he opted to just nod his head and shake the man's hand. Then he stood back as Logan boarded The Black Bird, and it rose into the air and subsequently vanished over a near by ridge. He then proceeded to teleport his supplies to a near by cave that he knew of and prepared for two weeks of solitude, silence, and prayer.

Logan landed the jet in a neighboring valley several miles away, and then announced out loud, "All right Half Pint! Come out! You may have fooled The Elf, but I'm too good for that."

The petite brunette phased out of one of the storage closets. "Looks like I'm busted." She toed the floor.

"You got that right." Her teacher opined, "And I've already called Chuckles and told him the situation. He thinks that as punishment for coming along on a mission uninvited…" He gave her a feral smile that caused her to loudly gulp, "that you will be spending the next two weeks getting some one on one survival instruction with me, as well as help me keep an eye on The Elf."

At the mention of Kurt she perked up, "Like that's why I came. I just wanted to make sure he got to where he was going safely…" She paused to take a breath, "You know, he wouldn't tell me where he was going specifically or why. I was just curious and worried."

He appraised her with a level of respect in his eyes, "kid, I don't even know why he is here. Not really anyways. All I know is that the fuzz ball has some deep issues from his past that he feels he needs to come to peace with. He's doing some St. Ignatius thing."

She looked a bit confused, "So this is some kind of prayer retreat?"

"Something like that." He agreed, "But The Prof feels it is necessary to keep an eye on him in case he does anything drastic."

Worry lines creased her face, "What do you mean 'drastic'?"

The older mutant paused a moment contemplating how much to tell the teen. Then he decided that if she was to be a part of the mission she needed full disclosure, "Kitty, rarely have I seen the Professor disturbed or shaken. What ever it is that our blue friend is dealing with has got old Xavier pretty shook up. Enough so that he is worried about Kurt's physical well being."

Meanwhile several miles away Kurt had settled in and was preparing to enter into a lengthy period of deep prayerful silence and reflection. He felt that it was the only way to finally come to peace and healing, as well as repent for what he had done. He would not expect his friends to understand his need for forgiveness, or is situation. But then, to the best of his knowledge, none of his friends had ever killed their older brother.

The following morning found Kitty up before dawn (with the help of Wolverine of course).

"Get up Half Pint. Time to get moving."

Her response was a cross between a mumble and a groan, "mmmblgrrm" Slowly she opened her eyes, and forgetting where she was, saw Logan and asked, "Am I in Hell? 'Cus I'm Jewish…"

"Not even close," He smiled, "But give it time…"

And sure enough by nine o'clock she was finding it hard to tell. They had marched the seven miles to Kurt's valley and had set up a look out post. Looking through her binoculars (supplied by Logan) she watched her blue friend; framed by a black circle going about his day. It was not too entertaining. For it seemed that he was just sitting at the entrance of the cave.

"Like, what is he doing?"

"From what Chuck's told me, he will be spending the next two weeks going through spiritual exercises designed to bring him closer to God and absolution of sin." He told her.

"So he is praying?" she asked.

"More like meditating I guess." The Canadian answered.

She lowered the binoculars from her blue eyes and turned to her companion, "Let me get this strait, we're just going to sit here for the next two weeks and watch Kurt be a monk?" She looked a bit taken aback.

Logan glared at her, "Nobody asked you to come."

Then, digging through his rucksack he pulled out a leather wrapped bundle and tossed it to her. Catching it she unwrapped it and found it contained several knives of various shapes and sizes. She looked at him questioningly.

"But since you are here, lets spend some time working on your fighting skills."

The petite girl looked distastefully at the objects in her lap, "With knives?!"

The gruff man answered, "Your code name is Shadowcat, lets see if you've got any claws."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you knew I would be here."

He just smiled a knowing smile then said, "You need to learn to be less predictable then."

At her shocked expression he continued, "I have to admit kid, the decoy was a great tactic. I've used it myself many times. But I knew that you would find a way to follow your boyfriend…"

Kitty cut him off, "Whoa, Kurt is not my boyfriend! We're just friends."

"Sure you two are, that's why you two was almost kissin' yesterday." He grinned as her face flushed.

"Anyways, Chuck said to tell you that you also need to work on your shields. He knew what you were planning almost before you did."

Her face fell, "I've been set up."

Logan laughed, "Yep!" his face then took on a serious expression, "Now then, time for lesson one. Throwing."

**Author's Note: **There you are, chapter three. A little earlier than promised. I want to thank those of you who were kind enough to review with the helpful suggestions and the well needed ego boost. So, yeah, Kitty is going to learn some knew fighting skills. I want to move her away from the helpless victim that always needs rescuing and take her toward her more canonical independent self. I hope you are all enjoying this little fic. read/review and Live and Love.


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt spent the majority of the first week reading, and playing out certain Bible verses in his mind. Imagining him self present during specific episodes of Jesus' life. He would then replay the memory of what has happened to Stefan over and over again; each time he would try to see what the life of his savior could teach him about the event. By the end of the first week, he was feeling a growing sense of peace and acceptance. And by the eve of the second week he was preparing to enter into a round of more intensive prayer and reflection.

Where as Kurt had spent his first week in search of peace, Kitty had spent hers receiving a crash course in bladed combat from a man who happened to have blades as part of his anatomy… Logan had to admit that he was impressed. Kitty's stubbornness and determination had made her an excellent student. She was always willing to push herself further just to show him that she was capable. Within the first three days, she had practically become a marksman with the throwing knives.

Currently Logan and Kitty were taking a break from their close-quarter fighting exercises. Kitty wiped the sweat from her face and sat on a log. She picked up her water bottle and enjoyed a long cool drink. Then looking around for a while she appeared lost in thought. Logan himself had closed his eyes and was breathing deep and evenly. Then he was pulled out of his rest as the young woman spoke,

"You know, I never would have imagined as a little girl reading all of those fairy tales that someday I would be in the very forest Snow White lived in, receiving fighting instructions from someone like you.

Keeping his eyes closed the man spoke, "Life's fulla crazy shit."

She laughed, "You are such a philosopher Mr. Logan."

He had to chuckle himself at that, "You know kid, I don't rightly remember all the places life has taken me, I have these hazy foggy half memories that I am not sure are real. I'm not sure I ever was a kid, let alone that he would have imagined he would end up being someone like me."

Her blue eyes appraised him for a moment, "Like, still waters _do_ run deep." She teased.

He grinned and looked her in the eyes, "Like I said, Life's fulla crazy shit."

"I'll drink to that!" she held up her water bottle than took a drink. The two fell into a comfortable silence for a while. Finally she stood up and announced, "Well, I'd better check on our fuzzy blue monk..."

She retrieved her binoculars and climbed a nearby tree deftly and with an ease that The Wolverine had to admire. Kitty really was full of surprises. She was far from the simple shallow valley girl that people pegged her as. He knew that after this mission she would be well capable of holding her own in almost any given situation.

Once she had climbed high enough, Kitty brought the lenses to her eyes and focused them in on the cave that her unsuspecting friend had been calling home. The blue teen was kneeling in supplication at the feet of the statue of Mary, eyes closed, fingers working a rosary. _"I hope you find what you are looking for Kurt,"_ She thought to herself, _"I can't bear to think of you in such pain." _ What happened next nearly made her fall from her perch, as the subject of her thoughts turned and seemed to stare right at her. She was startled to say the least. _Could he see her?_ Her fears were laid to rest as he turned away and resumed his silent prayer. However, she still felt a bit worried.

Climbing down, she reported to Logan, "No change. Although for a moment, I almost thought he saw me…"

"Not likely. I mean the kid is observant, but he aint that good. We are about a mile and a half from him."

She took this in and then asked, "Just how observant is he?"

"Well," He began, "Kurt and I are pretty similar in some respects. We are both 'feral' mutants, meaning that we have certain animal traits." She nodded; the classification system for mutants was part of the X-Man training, so this was not new to her. He continued, "But you knew that already. Other wise you wouldn't have bothered with your decoy last week. However, Kurt's spent the better part of his life trying to be hidden and unseen. That's taught him a lot about paying attention to his surroundings, as well as things that interest him."

"Such as?" she inquired.

"Lets just say that the Elf probably knows the freckles on your face as well as he knows the rosary." He answered.

His choice of example caused her to blush furiously, as well as caused her heart rate to quicken. A fact that The Wolverine picked up on, "Seeing as your heart rate's already up, what say we get back to today's exercise?"

Kitty just groaned.

Kurt was taking a break from his prayers to eat a simple and light lunch, a lunch that would have surprised his friends at home in its seeming meagerness. The prevailing theory being that the boy had a black hole where his stomach should be. And that could be true sometimes. He did have an accelerated metabolism; ripping a hole in the fabric of space-time did tend to take a lot of energy. However, he had not ported in nearly two weeks, and prayer was not terribly taxing in the physical sense.

His attention was attracted by a loud croaking sound above, like stones being clacked together. He glanced up and his face cracked into a wide grin, _"Hello mein friend." _ He thought as the large black bird circled ever closer to the ground. The raven landed on the head of the Virgin Mother and Kurt approached it. _"And was news have you brought me today?" _He wondered to himself. As he came closer to the bird he noticed the shiny object hanging from its beak, _"Sehr Interessant!"_

_**Author's Note: **First, Thank all of you for your wonderful and encouraging responses. Second, sorry for the shortness of the chapter. I live out here on the West Coast in the Bay Area and we are getting royally slammed by a major storm system. Four storms down, one more to go (and they say that the next one will be bigger than the four previous, and it is set to strike tonight!) I am already without water (been without for three days), and power is a fleeting concept these days. So I wanted to ask everyone's preference; I can try and post the remainder as either one long chapter, or two chapters roughly as long as the current one's have been. You're call people. Either way expect some brief action in the next chapter.... It's pretty much time for Kitty's final exams. hehe. _


	5. Chapter 5

The two weeks were almost up. Less than twenty-four hours to go. Kitty and Logan stood facing each other in a small grove of trees that had been serving as their training ground. Kitty was receiving her final examination. She was wearing a spare uniform (one of many kept in the jet), around her waist she ware a handful of sheaths containing a number of knives. She had a bandolier over each shoulder and the two crossed at her chest. Those too were strapped with sheaths. She looked dangerous. Her small pixie like body and angelic face were a sharp contrast to the implements of destruction that hung from her petite frame.

"All right Half Pint, Finals time. This is a fight to the end. It aint over until one of us is down. Got it?" The Wolverine explained.

She smiled and drew out a combat knife almost as long as her forearm, "Bring it old man."

The Wolverine smiled and extended his claws with a resounding _**Snikt**_ "Lets do this." Then with a snarl he charged.

He was proud of the way she ducked and dodged his swipes and cuts. Her times in the danger room had helped her there. Her time with Logan the last two weeks had taught her how to seize an opening… Every time she was unable to dodge, she would phase. The adamantium claws would pass through her harmlessly, then before he could recover she would swipe with her knife and give him a scratch or cut of her own.

"Good job kid." He would complement her hits, but never relented his attacks.

She then reached behind her back with her left hand, and drew another knife from her belt. She was now fighting double handedly. Keeping her body in phase, but leaving her hands and blades tangible, she went on the offensive. With a series of thrusts and slashes, she forced the man to back up until he found his way blocked by a tree. She smiled at him and winked before she literally ran up his body, and launched herself into a back flip by kicking off of his forehead. She landed several feet away. Her launch had slammed his head against the tree, and his skull's adamantium casing made a metallic clang.

In the moments when he was waiting for the ringing in his head to stop, Logan found himself lost in a hazy half memory. Instead of Kitty he was looking at a girl of her age and size, with dark red hair and green eyes. The girl was holding a sword in her hand, "Not bad eh' _Little Uncle_?"

He found himself pulled back to the present by a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked to his right and saw one of Kitty's throwing knives sticking out of it. He pulled it out and threw it aside. He shook his head to clear it, then with a roar of anger he charged at the girl with his claws. Her eyes grew large in fear and she phased at the last second, bringing her right hand upwards. The two stood there, The Wolverine's claws harmlessly resting in her immaterial abdomen. Her combat knife sunk to the hilt in his stomach.

"Nice moves Half Pint." His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed to the ground.

The small girl stepped back in shock. Looking down, she saw her teacher in a pool of blood that was spreading from the wound in his stomach. A wound that she had inflicted… She ran behind a nearby tree and was audibly and violently ill.

After emptying her stomach, she sat down and regarded her temporarily deceased instructor. She knew that it was only a matter of time before he regained consciousness due to his mutation, but still she the shock was there. She had killed The Wolverine! How many seventeen-year old girls could say that? Hell, how many S.H.I.E.L.D agents could say the same?

When he regained consciousness, Kitty had a wet towel ready and offered it to him. He gratefully accepted and began wiping the blood off his stomach. She chewed her nip nervously.

"So…" she began, "How did I do?"

He laughed, "A plus kid! Flying colors."

She squealed with excitement, then a crazy though struck her, "Holy Shit, I'm lethal!" She then laughed at the absurdity of it.

"How did it feel?" Logan's words brought her back to reality.

"Weird. I mean, for most of it I felt like one of Charlie's Angels. But then when I killed you I felt sick." She paused, "I realized that it's not a game. I mean if you weren't you, you would be dead. And that scares the hell out of me."

He smiled, "Good. Then you learned the lesson. The ability to fight is a responsibility. Even more so, the ability to kill must be reserved for a last resort. Do you know why I chose you out of everyone else to train this way?"

She shook her head.

"Well part of it is your size and your mutation, it makes you a perfect candidate for knife fighting. But the real reason is that you have the maturity and the compassion to treat the discipline responsibly." He explained.

She beamed with pride at the compliment, and then asked, "Anything else?"

"Just that if I was your father, I could rest easy sending you off to college now."

The two laughed out loud at that.

After the fight, Logan announced that he was going to go back to the jet and make sure it was ready to fly home in the morning. It was mid afternoon.

Kitty stayed behind, and still wearing her weapons she busied herself with breaking up camp. She heard a twig snap behind her. Keeping her back turned to the direction of the noise she said, "Come back for more old man?"

In one fluid motion she turned around and let her blade fly. It sunk into a tree with a loud '_**Kathwap!' **_

__Kurt looked at the blade that was sticking out of the tree trunk mere inches from his face, and gulped audibly. "Somehow, that was not the welcome I was expecting."

The shock of the moment proved to much for Kitty to take; killing your instructor, and then almost killing the person you secretly love, and whom you expect to be miles away all in one afternoon can be a lot for anybody. She promptly fainted.

**Author's Note: ** There you all go! two fer' one deal. And how is that for a chapter ending? A cookie to anyone who knows who the mysterious girl is from Logan's vision... She will play a role in the possible sequel. I hope that the fight scene will have fulfilled some of the hopes for action. One more chapter to go with a little bit of action, and then on to the next project.


	6. Chapter 6

**Without further ado, **

**Forgiven. Chapter 6.**

When she awoke Kurt was looking down on her. "Kurt?" she croaked, "What are you doing here?"

He laughed, his eyes shining, "Now, shouldn't I be the one asking you that question? And for the record, I've known you two were here for the better part of a week." He offered a hand and pulled her to her feet.

"But how?" she asked.

Kurt looked at her pointedly, "Kätchzen, I grew up here. This valley is my home. I know it as I know my own soul. It spoke to me…" He paused, then with a shrug said, "Plus there were signs."

"But we were so careful." The girl protested, her pride a bit bruised.

'Not careful enough." He chided, "Missing something?" He held up a silver chain with a Star of David hanging from it.

Kitty's hand flew to the spot that the pendant usually dangled from. Her voice filled with surprise, "I didn't even know I had lost it… But how did you find it?"

"I had some help…" Kurt handed her the pendant. Then bringing his hands to his mouth, he blew into them producing a low whistle. Immediately it was answered by a loud croaking sound, and a large black raven flew into the clearing and landed on a stump.

"Kätchzen, I would like you to meet Corvus."

She looked at the bird, "Corvus?"

He nodded, "Short for Corvus Corvax, smartest of all birds. He was my childhood pet." The raven clacked its beak as Kurt spoke.

"You had a pet raven?" She seemed skeptical.

"What? You expected me to have a dog?"

Corvus hopped off the stump and proceeded to bounce over to Kitty's feet, he then began to tug at her shoelaces. The girl laughed.

"Corvus likes shiny things, which is why he picked up your necklace."

Kitty was trying to shoo him away from her shoes but to little avail. Finally Kurt said in clipped German, "Corvis, Halten Sie!" The bird stopped and flew up into a tree, then proceeded to rock from foot to foot, emitting a staccato of clicking noises.

"Now he's sulking." Kurt said shaking his head.

"Will you be bringing him home with us?" She asked.

Again Kurt shook his head, "No, I couldn't ask that of him. This is his home. Besides, he seems to have a girlfriend." He pointed to a nearby tree where another raven watched intently. "Ravens mate for life. I could never do that to him. It would break their hearts."

Kitty gave this some thought and said, "I can imagine how they would feel…" Kurt gave her a questioning look but she changed the topic, "Did you figure out what you needed to figure out?"

Kurt walked over to a nearby log and took a seat, he patted the space next to him and Kitty sat at his side. The German too a breath before speaking, "Indeed I have. And if I remember correctly I promised to tell you about it when I did."

Kitty stared at him intently and hopefully.

"Did you ever know that I had an older brother?"

Her blue eyes connected with his gold ones. She shook her head and waited for him to continue.

"His name was Stefan. His mother Margali adopted me after she found me in the river. _And we both know how I ended up there…_ She was a fortuneteller in a Romany circus. Most of the year we traveled with the circus. She told the fortunes and Stefan and I were in the trapeze. The rest of the time we lived in this valley. Then one day as we were preparing to head out on the road, I noticed a change in Stefan's behavior. Weird mood swings… and his temper got really bad." He paused to collect his thoughts, Kitty kept her silence. "Then children began to disappear from a nearby village, one small child at least every other week. I began to notice that Stefan's temper would get worse just before a child would vanish… I'm not sure how I knew, but I soon realized that he had to be involved. Then one night I caught him red handed…"

:Flashback:

_ Kurt enters a clearing on a mountainside in the middle of the night to find his brother Stefan standing behind a small boy of about five years old. The child is crying as the taller blond teen holds a knife to his throat. Kurt yells, "Stefan! Halten Sie Bitter!" _

_Stefan looks at Kurt and gives him a very chilling smile, "Nein!"_

_The blue boy lunges for the knife, but it is too late. Stefan pulls the blade across the child's throat, spilling his red blood on the ground. The body falls lifelessly to the dirt. _

"_You shouldn't have followed me brüderchen. Now I will have to silence you." The taller boy's eyes are filled with hatred, and something that can only be described as frenzy. He brandishes the knife and charges at Kurt. The smaller boy is able to push his older brother away. _

_Stefan laughs, and then tackles Kurt. Kurt is able to roll with the impact, and using his momentum, flings his older brother off of him. _

_The blond boy lands with a sickening wet crack_.

:End Flashback:

"When he landed, he fell on his neck. It broke and he died instantly." Kurt took a shaky breath. This was the first time he had ever verbally told anyone about what had happened. He was surprised to notice that sometime during his story, Kitty had taken his hand. She was currently squeezing it tightly. Tears streamed down her face as she listened. He continued his story, "Our mother blamed me…"

:Flashback:

"_I should have left you in that river to drown!" the gypsy woman screamed at him, "You are a creature of evil. Ein Dämon! And it is because of you that my boy was possessed to do those evil deeds!"_

"_Momma please!" Kurt cried to her_

"_You are no child of mine. I renounce you!"_

:End Flashback:

"She left with the circus and never came back. I stayed here in the valley alone for almost a year until guilt and loneliness drove me to head for the village. I felt responsible and no longer cared what happened to me… I made it easy for them to find me. The memory of their missing children still fresh, they saw me and figured, 'Here is the demon responsible!' They were going to burn me. And I was going to let them. I felt it was what I deserved." He paused to take a breath.

His eyes moved around a bit as if he were watching something, "I would have died if The Professor had not intervened. I had never met another mutant before; and the crowd's words, as well as the words of Margali had me believing that I was indeed a demon. I've spent the last three years trying to repent and seek forgiveness for what happened to Stefan. That is why I needed to come here."

His tail had remained limp all through his story. Looking over he saw Kitty's face covered with tears. He reached over with his hand and brushed them from her face with his thumb, "Shhhh. Liebling, it is alright. Everything is fine now."

She was finding it hard to meet his eyes. Finally she spoke, her voice shaky with emotion, "What did you find these last two weeks Kurt?" He noted that she used his given name and not 'Fuzzy' or 'Elf'.

He smiled a genuine smile at her, "I found that I had been forgiven long ago. In fact, I was never in need of forgiveness at all. I had saved Stefan when he could not save himself. The guilt I felt was my cross to bear, a gift from God to lead me closer to the path of Jesus. Any sin of mine was forgiven long ago when The Lord gave me everyone at the institute to be my new family. I was saved when he gave me my friends. I've done a lot of praying and soul searching these two weeks… The answer I have been seeking was before me all along. My place in the world is with every one back home, as an X-Man. Loving, trusting, fighting along side of, and protecting all of you. That is my mission from God."

Kitty looked at Kurt and her heart welled with emotion. She knew than that she loved this boy. No, she loved this _Man._ His strength and compassion filled her with the strength to face the world and she could not imagine her life without him in it.

She threw herself upon him and hugged him with all of her strength. He returned the embrace just as firmly. She wanted so badly to tell him how she felt, to profess her love. But, she knew that now was not the time to do so. He had come to some deep revelations himself, and did not need her feelings to confuse him any further. She could deal with that back home.

Finally she stood up, "Does this mean you are ready to go home?"

His tail swished behind him and he smiled, "I will be ready and waiting in the morning. It's a pity I won't see Logan's face when you tell him that I knew you were here."

Kitty laughed, "Don't worry, I'm sure he will grumble about it all the way home."

The two shared a laugh. Corvus croaked loudly and took off, followed by his mate. The two teens watched them go.

"Well, I had better get back to my cave and pack." Kurt announced. He gave Kitty a hug, "See you in the morning Kätchzen."

"See you in the morning Fuzzy." She smiled.

Then with a **Bamf** he was gone.

She began picking up the camp when suddenly there was another **Bamf** and Kurt was standing right in front of her.

"Gah!" She yelled, "Warn a girl next time!"

The blue mutant grinned from ear to ear, "One more thing I forgot to tell you…"

She placed her hand on her hip, "yeah? And what's that?"

"This…" And with that he pulled her into a very passionate kiss. When they finally pulled apart for air he whispered in her ear, "God forgave me when he gave me you, My Angel." Then he was gone in a puff of brimstone.

Kitty was still smiling when Logan came back. The Wolverine sniffed the air then asked, "Did I miss something?"

Kitty just smiled. Her cheeks flushed red, "As a wise man once told me, Life is fulla crazy shit."

**Epilogue**

The flight home from Germany was made in relative silence with Kitty and Kurt holding hands in the passenger compartment, neither of them speaking much, just taking comfort in each other's presence. Somewhere around hour four, Kitty had drifted off to sleep. Kurt eased himself out of his seat, careful not to wake her, and made his way to the copilot's seat.

Logan looked over at him, "Things seem to be going pretty well with you and The Half-Pint."

"Jawöhl they are." The younger answered. "Are you going to threaten me with what you will do with my hide if I hurt her?"

Logan laughed and thought about the knife she had planted in his gut, "Kid can take care of herself." And he left it at that. They sat in silence for a bit.

Finally the Canadian felt compelled to ask, "So, did you find what you were looking for?"

A serene smile formed on Kurt's face, "I think I had it all along."

The rest of the flight was made in silence.

**THE END**

**Author's Note: **There you all go. The conclusion to Forgiven. I hope you all enjoyed the ride, and thank you for reading. I think I am finally getting the hang of this Fan Fiction writing. I can't believe all of the support I have received from all of you! It would take too long to name all of you individually, but it was because of your reviews that I decided to post each chapter.

As for the sequel... I have two ideas for stories floating around, and I am trying to decide which one should take precedence. The first idea, reveals who the mystery girl in Logan's vision was, as well as delves deeper into recent Marvel Continuity. Pending Title, "Madripoor". The other idea deals more with Kurt's cultural heritage as a Romany gypsy, and involves an adventure for the two new lovebirds. Well actually both stories involve an adventure for the two new love birds haha. Let me know which you would be more interested in seeing first. Either way it may take me a while to start posting. School is kicking my but, and there is much rebuilding to do after all of those storms.

Live and Love. -Tarsier1


End file.
